Day: August 9, 2018

Weston First XI were involved in a close match with top of the table Lansdown at home on Saturday.
Having lost the loss and been put in to bat, Weston got off to a shaky start, with captain Rob Turner falling for 16 in the 7th over. Jack Press and Ben Gully batted steadily to put on 98 for the second wicket before Press fell LBW for 47 with the score on 123. Gully fell shortly after for 36 and Sam Goodhew soon followed for 10. Chris Davidson and Ashley Allen put on 40 for the 5th wicket, with Allen falling for 22 off 29 deliveries. A nine ball cameo from Matt Huxtable (11), took the score to 217 and Davidson, supported by Alex Leeks (6 not out off 3 balls) reached his 50 off the penultimate ball of the innings. Weston finished on a respectable 228-6 off their 50 overs, especially when you take into account that the team featured only five of the players who played in the away match against Lansdown earlier in the season.
Lansdown came out swinging, with Thorpe hitting 25 off just 11 balls before being caught by Gully off the bowling of Leeks (8-1-53-1). A 111 run partnership for the second wicket between Jordan Price and keeper Allen looked to win Lansdown the game, before Allen (56) was superbly run out by a quick reaction from Charl Willoughby off his own bowling. Willoughby (10-1-37-2) struck again with the last ball of his over to remove Jordan Smith for 46, leaving Lansdown on 141-3. Hooper (20) and Veal (10) rebuilt slightly, but Veal then left a ball from Goodhew that took the top of off. This brought J Henly to the crease and he teed off. His quick fire 47 off 42 deliveries, including 5 fours and 3 huge sixes took the game beyond Weston, despite Allen (10-2-45-2) taking two wickets, an LBW and a caught and bowled, at the other end. Willoughby and Davidson took wickets with the score on 227, but with Weston needing two wickets and Lansdown only needing two runs, the odds were in their favour and a 4 from number 8, captain Josh Price, saw Lansdown to victory with 3.5 overs to spare.
Weston should be pleased with their batting performance, but two dropped catches could have proved vital, especially as one of the drops was Henly when he was on 0.
Weston are away to Bishopston on Saturday, looking to build on this weeks positive, if ultimately disappointing, performance.
The Forte Financial Man of the Match was Chris Davidson.

2nd XI

Weston 2nd’s put in a much better performance on Saturday away to Butleigh, but still came up short in a high scoring game.

Weston won the toss and bowled first on a very slow and grassy wicket, and made a good start, as Georgia Tulip made a breakthrough in the 1st over. The innings then settled down, as a lightning fast outfield and short boundaries made for quick scoring. The introduction of George Bemand brought Weston back into the game, as he took 4 wickets in an excellent 9 over spell, backed up by great catching from the fielders, notably Aniraj Sapra. When Weston took the sixth wicket with the score on just 180, they had hopes of wrapping up the innings, but a lack of bowling options hampered them, as Butleigh scored quickly in the last few overs to take the score to 276-7 from 45 overs.

Weston started well in reply, with openers Andy Fear and Dom Mayo putting on 140 for the first wicket. The experienced Fear showed his class in scoring an quality 101, but the wicket of Mayo for 34 turned the tide towards the home team. The required run rate rose, with the new batsman struggling to score quickly on the very slow wicket. The wicket of Fear put the game beyond Westons reach, but they at least got themselves full batting bonus points in reaching 220-6.

A team again hurt by unavailability was unable to produce the win, but a battling performance can give them a lot of cause for optimism.

Forte Financial Player of the Match goes to Andy Fear.

3rd XI

Weston 3s lost on Saturday away to Staplegrove 2s. Fielding an inexperienced team, Weston lost the toss and were put into bowl. The game started off well with regular wickets falling leaving Staplegrove 134-5. However with an unbeaten 6th wicket partnership, Staplegrove reached 308-5 after 45 overs, somewhat helped by fielding first team players. Bowlers Jamie Dance, Ian Smith, John Fleming, Dec McNulty and Chris Fawcett each taking a wicket, with Fawcett leaving the game after 20 overs with a serious shoulder injury.

Weston got off to a good start in the reply with all batsmen contributing, Matt Knight (8) and Tommy Bailey (26 off 11 balls) were aggressive at the start and the middle order, Josh Knight (32), Lauren Filer (28), John Fleming (49*) and Adam Smith (13). However with the loss of regular wickets, Weston were all out for 187.

A difficult day for Weston but the team showed tremendous heart and attitude throughout. Forte Financial player of the match goes to John Fleming for a wicket and 49 not out.

4th XI

Harry Thompson batting for Weston

Once again Weston 4ths came off second best this week but once again there were positives to be taken. Playing at home to Harptree Villages Weston batted first. Despite a relatively experienced top order it was

13 year old Harry Thompson who was the star with 58 runs on his debut showing immaculate timing and placement to confound whatever the bowlers sent down to him. There were also scores in the 20s for Charlie Thompson, Spike Hawkins and fellow 13 year old debutant Christian McMullan. A score of 158 was, we thought, competitive in the circumstances but Harptree’s experienced opening pair set about the Weston bowlers and they reached their target for the loss of only one wicket.

Another defeat but again the future looks bright. Harry Thompson followed up his half century with a very tidy wicket keeping performance and is the Forte Player of the Match.